Kingdom of Achedon

Go on! Pride yourself in the size of your armies. The magnificence of your cities. The splendour of your court. But like all things, it will vanish sooner or later. And when you stand in the ashes of your past glory, you will look on in envy as we still reign from our halls. For the world may move but Achedon remains.

— Hemmerion XX. to Emperor Amelian of the Ikaran Empire

Oldest of the civilized realms. The Eternal Kingdom. Enemy of the Arcane. Achedon is an ancient nation. Older even than the great temples that serve as the foundation of the Arcane Hierarchy. A nation that has survived even the greatest pf calamities, be they political, magical or natural.
It is a nation that has created some of the greatest pieces of art. A nation whose army has fought and won ten thousand battles. A nation that despises Magic in all its forms.

History

A single stab of a bronze spear gave birth to the Eternal Kingdom. At least that is how the nations official history describes it. The legendary hero Gorodar slew the Witch Queen of Themis, liberated the ancient Achedeans from her torturous rule and became the first king of Achedon. Legends aside there is some truth to it, as the nation was indeed founded when an eastern warlord conquered the area around Themis in the second century of the Age of Consolidation.

Achedon saw repeated invasions from West Aramean Tribes, completely overrun at times and only surviving in a few isolated castles in the mountains. Unlike many of its neighbours, however, it would never truly fall.
No matter the devastation, Achedon would always reemerge as strong as before. Isolationist to the extreme, they rarely intervene outside their borders. An exception is made, when it comes to Mages, however. Achedonian armies have been known to march beyond their borders to drive away any member of the Arcane Hierarchy foolish enough to come close.

A Kingdom that despises Mages

Achedon has always been a monarchy. Feudal in earlier times it has over time developed into an absolute monarchy. The king rules both directly and indirectly through the Old Council, a body of ten lords each dealing with a certain aspect of the nation. Further down the line are the nobles who serve as officers and generals in the army.
The monarchy is not the only powerful organisation, however, as the Cult of Heshet holds sway over all religious matters within the realm. It is also the driving force behind Achedons anti-Magic stance. Mana is seen as the essence of depravity and decay by Heshets followers, those manipulating it as enemies of existence itself. Children with magic potential are burned. Every Mage coming close to the nation is executed.
As a result, relations with the Arcane Hierarchy are hostile at best. Short of an all-out invasion, which the Hierarchy cannot commit too, there is nothing they can do. No civilized nation would tolerate the destruction of a kingdom by magic. Embargos are useless as Achedon is mostly self-sufficient. And the only nation powerful enough to topple the kingdom, the Ikaran Empire has no desire to throw itself into a decade long massacre just to save a few mages.

Time Moves. We Remain.

Founding Date

111 AoC (2700 years ago)

Type

Geopolitical, Kingdom

Capital

Themis

Leader

Hemerion XXVI.

Government System

Monarchy, Absolute

Power Structure

Feudal state

Official State Religion

Cult of Heshet

Why the Hate?

The Cult of Heshet is unique in its intense hatred for magic. While there are many faiths preaching distrust for the arcane arts none call for their outright annihilation like the Cabal of the White Dragon.
So what could be the origin for such hatred? Some believe a terrible betrayal caused the founders of the faith to begin to abhor magic, a feeling that only grew over the millennia.
Whatever the reason may be, it is lost to time and even if known could hardly justify the murder of hundreds if not thousands of mages.

by Darkseid